Cookbook review: Fonda San Miguel: Thirty Years of Food and Art

By Tom Mentzer
Scripps Howard News Service
Feb. 5, 2007

The history of Fonda San Miguel, a fine-dining Mexican restaurant in Austin, Texas, reflects the evolution of eating in the United States.

Soon after the restaurant opened in the mid-1970s, founders Tom Gilliland and Miguel Ravago were forced to import many ingredients from Mexico. They constantly battled stereotypes of what "Mexican" food really was, struggling mightily to translate their culinary vision: a north-of-the-border home for authentic Mexican cuisine.

Today, those once-scarce Mexican ingredients can be found in grocery stores and markets across the United States (not to mention the Internet), and many Americans have come to embrace authentic food of all kinds.

Contributing to that goal of authenticity, Gilliland and Ravago published Fonda San Miguel: Thirty Years of Food and Art (Shearer, $34.95) in 2005, celebrating their restaurant's 30-year anniversary. This volume should be on anyone's short list of quality Mexican cookbooks, with a fine balance of recipes that speak to many Mexican traditions.

That's not to say this is for everyone. While the ingredients can be found in any well-stocked Mexican market, many of the recipes, particularly the entrees, are time-consuming and labor-intensive.

The authors serve up a few mole recipes, arguably the pinnacle of Mexican eating. Especially intriguing is a blackberry mole, but with almost 30 ingredients, it's not for the faint of heart.

Fonda San Miguel is well-known in Austin for its brunches, and the book's buffet section is a winner. These scaled-down recipes (most make enough for six to eight diners) make for a delicious late-morning feast, especially when paired with the book's mojitos and margaritas.

While many of the entrees require special ingredients (banana leaves, Mexican cheeses and various dried chiles are often called for), there are dishes to be made from common staples.

A shredded beef salad offers a delicious, vinegary punch and is very versatile. Spooned over lettuce, it makes for a nice appetizer or lunch; piled on a tostada, it's a tasty main course.

The Veracruz-style ceviche is another delicious meal opener, and with only a handful of ingredients, it's painfully easy to prepare. And it's flexible, as simple to make for two as it is for 20.

The authors also provide some nice fundamentals, condiments that spruce up any Mexican dish. From the pickled red onions to red and green table sauces, these basic accompaniments perk up any plate.

Lessons on making tortillas and several desserts round out the book, but its strength lies in the savory recipes that bring a genuine flavor of Mexico to the American kitchen.

(Tom Mentzer is a freelance writer. Contact him at tom.mentzer@gmail.com.)